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Picking The PartsDeciding on the components for your ideal PC is never easy, whether you’re spending $200 or $2,000. But the less you have to spend, the more energy and thought you have to devote to the process.

For our 2011 $200 PC we wanted hardware that was at least as good as what we got last year, and hopefully better, but we were also intent on streamlining and honing the final product according to what we learned last year. Speed hadn’t become too much of an issue, for example, but hard drive space and efficiency had been, so we were determined to address those issues this time. This meant tougher decisions in other areas, and we might have liked to do a few things differently, but working within a budget means you don’t always get what you want. We do feel we got close.

Here’s an in-depth look at not just the components we chose for our system, but also our thought process along the way. Even if you might choose something different when building your own computer—at any price—thinking about these things is invariably a good way to begin.

1. MotherboardBecause the last sub-$200 PC we built was based on an AMD processor, we really wanted to see if we could easily construct this system on an Intel platform. We discovered we could—but ultimately we decided against it. We wanted to try to avoid the LGA775 socket, which would have left us with a relatively narrow upgrade path and forced us to use older technology; and pairing the least-expensive newer Intel CPU we felt good about with the least-expensive motherboard we felt good about would have put us in a severe budget crush. So AMD it was again. The microATX Zotac GF6100-F-E had both an attractive price ($34.99, after a mail-in rebate) and the AM3 socket we needed. It had one big limitation: a thermal design power (TDP) of 65 watts that would restrict our processor selection somewhat. But it would still give us some room to move, and free up our budget for the memory and hard drive space we missed in last year’s system. That seemed like an acceptable trade-off.

2. CPUOur motherboard chosen, we then set our sights on the CPU. We could have gone as low as $30, with the AMD Sempron 130, but a single-core processor was out of the question. By spending another $41, on the Athlon II X2 270, we could get a chip that not only ran at a much higher clock speed (3.4GHz, as opposed to the Sempron’s 2.6GHz), but had two processing cores rather than one. For what it’s worth, this chip also represented a significant step up from the 2.9GHz Athlon II X2 245, which was the most we could afford last year. Because of our motherboard’s TDP limit, the only better chip we could nab from Newegg would be the AMD Phenom II X4 910e—and that would have cost us $189.99.

3. MemoryAs important as memory is to the running of your computer, it’s seldom the most exhilarating type of component to discuss—or shop for. So we looked for the 2GB RAM kits that would deliver us the fastest speed (our motherboard can accept memory up to 1,333MHz) at the lowest price. This ended up being a Kingston kit for $16.99. Interestingly, last year we could only spring for 1GB of 1,333MHz RAM, and that cost us $25. That’s a big change, and a good reminder of why you should always keep your eyes open when you’re component shopping.

4. Hard DriveAnother example of a component that’s dropped drastically in price in the last year is the hard drive. When we were putting together our last sub-$200 PC, we shelled out $38.99 for a 160GB Seagate drive. This year, the best bargain we found was a 500GB Seagate drive that cost $39.99. Paying $1 more for 340GB more storage space is something we can always get behind. Another plus: This drive supports the newer and faster 6Gbps SATA III standard. Our motherboard, alas, doesn’t—the cheapest one we could find would have pushed us beyond our budget—but we’ll be ready for future upgrades, or for porting this drive to a faster PC at some point.

5. Case/Power SupplyNormally a computer’s case is not a high-irritation item, but when doing budget shopping nothing gets our teeth gnashing more. We’ll admit it upfront: We’re uncomfortable with paying too little money for a case–power supply combo, for fear of cheap construction on the former and heart-crushing inefficiency on the latter. But there’s no way good way around this issue. So we chose a black minitower from Broadway Com Corp, the 1243MA, which came bundled with a 500-watt power supply, for a total of $27.99. This would give us a small, relatively sleek computer, and enough power for today and several upgrade cycles to come.

6. Operating System“Wait,” we can hear you asking. “Why is this here? It’s not even a component!” True. But if you have to buy a copy of the operating system, especially if it costs $100 the way Windows 7 Home Premium does, building a $200 PC instantly switches categories from “improbable” to “impossible.” Luckily, lots of free Linux distributions offer an astonishing range of capabilities, and access to vast libraries open-source software, all without your having to drop a single dime. You could go for just about any free distro DistoWatch.com and former ZDer Jim Lynch’s site, DesktopLinuxReviews.com can suggest many possibilities), but we went with Ubuntu for one of most user-friendly and Windows-like experiences you can get.

7. Video CardThis was perhaps the easiest call on this list. Though we recommend a discrete video card whenever possible, spending enough for even a budget model like the AMD Radeon HD 6450 would have made almost as little budgetary sense as splurging on an operating system. So we’re sticking with the integrated graphics on the motherboard; they’ll be enough to see us through everything we’re likely to want to do on this computer in the short term. We can always add a card later if we decide we want to do more gaming.

8. Optical DriveWe admit this might technically be considered cheating. But when you’re building a sub-$200 Linux PC, every penny counts. We’re not putting an optical drive in this system for the simple reason that we don’t need one. We have lots of USB keys sitting around here that we can draft into temporary service for purposes of installing Ubuntu, and we imagine you might have a few as well. The beauty of many Linux distros (particularly Ubuntu) is that almost every piece of software you’ll ever want comes included, and if you need something else the chances are excellent you’ll be able to download it for free. This eliminates the need for an external disc drive most of the time, and we’re fine without one. We’ve never once missed it on the system we built last year.

Matthew Murray got his humble start leading a technology-sensitive life in elementary school, where he struggled to satisfy his ravenous hunger for computers, computer games, and writing book reports in Integer BASIC. He earned his B.A. in Dramatic Writing at Western Washington University, where he also minored in Web design and German. He has been building computers for himself and others for over 15 years, and spent several years working in IT and helpdesk capacities before escaping into the far more exciting world of journalism....
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